WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary James Mattis said the United States would try to work with Pakistan in Afghanistan.
Mattis said at a House Armed Services Committee hearing: “We need to try to make this strategy work with them, by, with and through the Pakistanis, and if our best efforts fail, the president is prepared to take whatever steps are necessary.”
The US Defense Secretary added that he would be traveling to Islamabad soon, but did not give more details.
When asked by a lawmaker whether revoking Pakistan’s major non-NATO ally status was amongst the options being considered to deal with Islamabad, Mattis said: “I am sure it will be.”